The Roman Catholic archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, has apologised "unreservedly" to the people of Ballyfermot, a parish in Ireland's capital city, after a former priest who had ministered there was sentenced to 16 years in prison for child abuse, reportsEcumenical News International. The 57-year-old former priest, Tony Walsh, was sentenced in Dublin on 8 December to jail terms ranging from four to 16 years on 12 counts of indecent assault and homosexual assault on three boys, aged between seven and their early teens, between 1978 and 1985. In a 12 December homily at the Church of the Assumption in Ballyfermot, Archbishop Martin said, "I came here this morning to renew my apologies to the people of this parish for the facts that this week have emerged one step more clearly about the abuse of children in Ballyfermot by the former priest Tony Walsh and about the way this abuse was hushed-up by people with responsibility in the parish and in the diocese."
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